Randolph Colliery

Overview

Randolph Colliery, sunk at Dysart in 1850, weathered an underground fire that smouldered on and off for the best part of a year in 1878-79 and passed through three owners before closing in 1968 — bought by the Fife Coal Company in 1923, along with the neighbouring Frances and Lady Blanche pits, when the Earl of Rosslyn's family finances gave out.

History

The Randolph Pit at Dysart was sunk in 1850 and worked for decades by the Earl of Rosslyn's Collieries under manager James McLay, recorded there from at least 1869 into the 1880s, using furnace and later natural ventilation. In October 1878 a fire broke out underground and proved almost impossible to put out: the workings were flooded to smother it, pumped dry once the fire was thought extinguished, and then caught alight again 'at a furious rate' — the blaze was blamed on a connection to the neighbouring Lady Pit, which by 1879 had reportedly been burning for twenty years. Because Randolph's workings connected underground to other pits, it could not simply be flooded outright, and had to be sealed off with stoppings instead. The colliery survived this and continued working; two shafts were sunk in 1921, 115m and 152m deep. In July 1923, with the St Clair family's finances exhausted, the Fife Coal Company bought Randolph from the Earl of Rosslyn's Collieries Ltd along with the neighbouring Frances and Lady Blanche pits. The National Coal Board took over on nationalisation in 1947, the year the workforce peaked at 333; an official report the following year recorded output of 430 tons a day (112,000 tons annually), a British Baum-type coal washer, a disused canteen, an ambulance room, the colliery's own three-phase electricity supply — and, notably, still no pithead baths. Recorded employment fell steadily thereafter (342 in 1940 had already been a high point on the way down before the 1947 peak; by 1947 under NCB ownership it stood at 253 by one count), and output in that year was 98,000 tons of household, industrial and steam coal, latterly worked from the Lower Dysart seam. Randolph Colliery closed in April 1968.

Geology

Coal of the Fife field, yielding household, industrial and steam coal; the seams worked are not recorded.

Workings

Sunk in 1850 at Dysart. The underground fire of October 1878 was fought by flooding the workings, pumping them dry once it was thought out, and flooding them again when it revived.

Closure

The St Clair family's finances were exhausted by July 1923, when the Fife Coal Company bought Randolph from the Earl of Rosslyn.

What remains

No physical remains are recorded; nothing at the site itself was described as surviving.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The Fife Coal Company bought Randolph Pit from the Earl of Rosslyn's Collieries Ltd in July 1923, along with the neighbouring Frances and Lady Blanche pits, once the owning St Clair family's finances were exhausted. ¹
• An underground fire broke out at Randolph Pit in October 1878 and could not be extinguished despite flooding and later pumping the workings; it was blamed on a connection to the neighbouring Lady Pit, itself said to have been burning for twenty years, and the pit had to be sealed with stoppings instead of flooded outright because its workings connected underground to other pits. ¹
• Recorded employment fell from 336 in 1933 and 342 in 1940 to 253 by 1947, the year output was 98,000 tons of household, industrial and steam coal. ²
• Two shafts were sunk at Randolph in 1921: No. 1, 115m deep, and No. 2, 152m deep. ³
• An official report dated 7 August 1948 recorded Randolph's workforce peaking at 333 in 1947, output of 430 tons a day (112,000 tons a year), a British Baum-type coal washer, a disused canteen, an ambulance room and the colliery's own three-phase electricity supply — but still no pithead baths. ³

Sources

1. (secondary) Randolph Pit, Dysart — fifepits.co.uk
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Randolph Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Randolph Colliery — Canmore (National Record of the Historic Environment, ID 131528) — Historic Environment Scotland / Canmore

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 29 August 2026